No merger for UK Coal and Hargreaves

BRITAIN'S biggest coal miner UK Coal said today that Hargreaves Services had called off merger talks.

Doncaster-based UK Coal said it was therefore no longer in an offer period according to takeover rules.

The firm also said it had completed changes to its production line. New seams at Kellingley in Yorkshire and Thoresby in Nottinghamshire are now in full production and Daw Mill, near Coventry, has completed the ramp-up on its new panel.

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The firm said in a statement that production from each mine was in line with expectations and it expects to produce about 7.6 million tonnes in what it calls "an improving pricing environment".

UK Coal also said its property business was performing in line with expectations and there had been "significant interest" in plans to sell parts of its agricultural estate and to explore joint-ventures on large parts of its brownfield land portfolio.